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November 14, 2011

Should we be fearing Chinese cyberwar?

At first, seeing this was written by a national security “insider,” I was leery. Fortunately, I read on. Joel Brenner tells us why we need to be more worried about China, the Russian mafia, and international drug smugglers, among others, conducting cyberespionage and other things.

China stands No. 1, because “war” and “peace” aren’t polar opposites there. Brenner adds that many of these attacks are against private business, not just defense contractors, but financial agencies and also non-defense contractors for the federal government. Add in the amount of products these companies had that are at least partially made in China, and we have a problem indeed, he says.

Brenner recommends solutions while also looking at some possible bad-case scenarios of Chinese blackmail a decade or two ahead.

A bit of hyperbole here and there about some of the possible threats, but, given that both major political parties don't want to address this, maybe some hyperbole is needed.